Mr. Obama’s secretary of defense, Chuck Hagel, says ISIS is “beyond anything we have ever seen.” So why should anyone expect the commander-in-chief to have a strategy to deal with such a threat?

It appears the reason the president doesn’t have a strategy isn’t because he is, as he was early this year, playing down and mocking the ISIS threat; it’s that he is completely at a loss over what to do about the Islamic State. He is at odds with many of his own top advisers on what needs to be done tactically, let alone strategically.

Those inside the administration advocating for going after ISIS in both Iraq and Syria were sorely disappointed [by what the president said Thursday] – and lamented their boss’s lack of urgency in rooting out a threat that only days before was being described in near-apocalyptic terms.

“Senior strategists in the U.S. government have been working hard all week to gather multiple options that the president had asked for to strike ISIS in Syria. There was a deep rooted belief among many — especially among military circles — that the ISIS threat can’t be kicked down the road, that it needs to be confronted now, and in a holistic way,” said one Obama administration official who works on Middle East issues. “This press conference is going to lead to even more doubt by those that thought that this White House was ready to take meaningful action against ISIS across the board.”

Then there’s this:

“One has to wonder what sort of signal this administration is sending to ISIS by using tough rhetoric on one hand and then contravening what top officials just said,” said a former Pentagon official who served in Iraq. “It’s not just demoralizing to those who want to stop ISIS in its tracks, but ISIS is just going to act with greater impunity now if they believe they got a free pass. Every single ISIS leader was watching that.”

Indeed they were. “We don’t have a strategy yet” are words that will haunt the president, at least for a time, until he (hopefully) settles on a strategy that actually works.

Mr. Obama was utterly candid in what he said; but his candor was terribly unwise. Mr. Obama is now back in his most comfortable role, describing events rather than shaping them. We’ve never in our history had a president who has such a strange psychological distance from struggles in which America is engaged.

About Washington Wire

Washington Wire is one of the oldest standing features in American journalism. Since the Wire launched on Sept. 20, 1940, the Journal has offered readers an informal look at the capital. Now online, the Wire provides a succession of glimpses at what’s happening behind hot stories and warnings of what to watch for in the days ahead. The Wire is led by Reid J. Epstein, with contributions from the rest of the bureau. Washington Wire now also includes Think Tank, our home for outside analysis from policy and political thinkers.